


Counting Calories

by myfingershurt



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Bulimia, Eating Disorders, F/M, Nalu - Freeform, Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia Fluff, Romance, lucy has bulimia :(
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2019-10-16 15:58:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,164
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17552708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myfingershurt/pseuds/myfingershurt
Summary: Lucy doesn't care if she has a problem--she just wants the numbers to go down.When she meets Natsu Dragneel, she doesn't expect that he might help her help herself.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story! Please leave lots of constuctive criticism.
> 
> Also, I have no idea how to italicize so I hope whatever I did worked.
> 
> This is loosely based off of my own experience. If you have or had an eating disorder, my experience may differ from yours, and that's okay! This was written to help me cope. I cannot stress enough to get help if you're in a similar situation. Hurting yourself is NEVER okay.
> 
> I do NOT support bulimia or the romanticizing of it in any way. This was written to help me cope.

Lucy gagged once more she felt a tickle in her throat. Her fingers pressed at the part in the back until she felt the satisfying slide of her breakfast coming back up her throat. She flinched when she felt some of the toilet water come back up at her and she wiped it off with a face of disgust. To be honest, she was used to it. Besides, it was worth the rush she got, the feeling of emptying herself with nothing left behind. Internally, she cursed herself. The blonde couldn’t even believe she allowed herself to eat as many pancakes as she had. God, she was such a fatty.

“Lucy!” a voice called from downstairs. Her dad. “Hurry up! You’re going to be late for school!”

Lucy rolled her eyes and took out the ponytail in her hair that she had tied up to keep the strands out of her face. She wiped her mouth with her sleeve before she stood up, flushing down the contents inside the bowl. She watched, making sure there was no evidence of what she had done before washing her hands. Her stomach hurt, her throat was sore, and she couldn't stop sniffing up all the snot coming out of her nose.

“Lucy!”

“Dad! I’m coming! Just give me a second!” she called back, her voice hoarse. She quickly swished some peppermint mouthwash in her mouth for a few seconds before spitting it out and picking up her backpack. The girl rushed down the stairs, her father waiting expectantly at the bottom.

“I keep telling you that you can’t keep this up every day,” her father rambled. “I can’t be late to work. If this keeps up, you’re walking!”

“Okay!” Lucy responded, a scowl present on her face. “I’m sorry. I’ll hurry up next time.”

“You better,” her father said. The two walked out to the shiny black car. Lucy lazily threw her backpack in before slipping into the passenger seat. She heard her father close his door and get in, but she kept her eyes on her thighs. _Fat_ she thought bitterly as the engine started. Her thighs stretched for miles when she sat down and she hated it. She hated the way she looked, hated how she didn't have a body more like Levy's, and hated how afraid she was of being overweight.

The ride to school was silent, as it always was. What were they supposed to talk about? Jude Heartfilia was living in a completely separate world from his daughter. It was all business, phone calls, and important meetings. Lucy didn’t know anything about that stuff. She didn’t care to know about that stuff. Her mind was always focused on school, boys, her weight, clothes, homework, her weight, food, her weight, her weight, her weight, food, her-

Her mind was so busy wondering that her father had to tap her shoulder to signal that they had arrived. Lucy opened the car door without a word, her feet swinging outside. She shivered, the cold air meeting her skin. She ignored the fact that it was seventy-five degrees and grabbed for her pink backpack. As she was shutting the door, she heard her father say, “I love you.”

She pretended not to hear him and shut the door hard, not bothering to turn around to see the hurt face she knew her dad would make. The girl walked to into the school lazily. She was so tired, with bags under her eyes and a slouch. The girl didn’t get much sleep last night. She didn't remember much, besides the cupboard in the kitchen that was calling her name, kneeling in front of a toilet, and the burn in her throat that lingered to the next morning.

Ignoring every ache in her body, her eyes scanned the crowds of students mingling with each other before her eyes landed on familiar blue hair matched with a small girl.

“Levy,” she said with a smile, walking up to her friend. Levy must have heard her, because she immediately looked up from her book and returned the grin.

“Lucy, hey! What’s up?”

“Nothing much. What about you?”

“Oh,” Levy said, placing her bookmark in place before closing her book. Lucy examined the fantasy-themed cover. “I’ve been reading this book. I started it last night and I’m almost done with it. It’s so good! It’s fantasy, action, and romance all packed together. God, it’s amazing.” Levy had always been so passionate about her readings.

Lucy took the book from her hands, flipping it over to read the back cover. “A daring knight saving a princess from a castle? Pretty stereotypical, Levy.”

Levy snatched the book from Lucy’s hands, her cheeks red. “Okay, I know it seems like that, but trust me! It’s like common fantasy with a twist.”

“Twist, huh? And what exactly would that be?”

Levy smirked, an eyebrow quirking up. “Well, you’ll just have to read and find out. I’ll let you borrow it when I’m done. I swear that it’s amazing. Not as good as something you could write, though…” Levy claimed bashfully.

Lucy playfully smacked her friends shoulder. “Stop saying stuff like that! My writing is so mediocre. Besides, you’re gonna give me a big head.”

“You should have a big head! You’re writing is so good, Lu. You’re the best I know!” The honesty in Levy’s voice was enough to make the blonde’s cheeks go aflame as she chuckled lightly.

“Ah, thanks. I’m working on something right now, actually.” Levy opened her mouth, but Lucy covered it with her hand before Levy could get a word out. “And yes, you will be the first to read it.”

Levy smiled. Just as she was about to say something else, the bell rang for first block. The two girls frowned in unison, not ready for the school day to start. Lucy’s stomach growled. It was so light that her friend hadn’t heard it over the chatter of fellow students. Lucy cursed under her breath.

“Before you go, Levy,” Lucy said. “Have you got any gum?”

“Yeah, sure,” her friend replied, digging through a pocket in her backpack. She handed Lucy the silver packaging. The girl unraveled it and popped it in her mouth. Watermelon. “You’re always chewing that stuff. I barely see you eat!”

Lucy laughed.

“Just something to do, I guess,” she lied.

 

Lucy scribbled down notes, making them as colorful as possible and highlighting all the important information; she cared about her grades a lot. It was normal for her to make all ‘A’s on every report card. Teachers talked with her, expecting her to be valedictorian by the time graduation hit. It wasn't good or bad--it was just a fact. She only two more years to go and she could manage until senior year.

Her attention was caught by the kid next to her dropping his pencil. It rolled all the way over to Lucy’s desk, stopping when it hit her foot. She made eye contact with the boy before kicking the pencil back his way. He muttered a “thanks” as he bent down to pick it up.

Lucy knew him. Okay, she didn’t know him personally, but she knew who he was. It was Natsu Dragneel, the designated class clown. She was certain that a period hadn’t gone by where he didn’t crack and stupid joke, interrupting the entire class, and Lucy was pretty sure she was the only one who didn’t find it knee-smacking hilarious when he popped a dick joke in the middle of class. What really stood out was he bright pink hair that stood up in every directional imaginable. Or maybe that stupid scarf he wore around his neck all day every day.

He seemed nice, though, and he must have been pretty smart to take AP Biology. Lucy had never talked to him personally. It was almost holiday break and they had never been partnered up and they hadn’t sat next to each other at all until a few days ago when the teacher had changed their assigned seats. The most friendly thing the two had done was exchange a few glances as one of them sat down; until now, Lucy guessed, when he thanked her for the pencil.

“Okay,” the teacher said, bending down. He reached in a drawer and pulled out a stack of paper. “Now you’ll be doing a worksheet of what we just covered.”

The class groaned.

“Quiet,” the teacher said, passing out the papers. When he came to Lucy’s desk she took it out of his hands with a smile and a light “thank you.”

“You’re the only student I have who’d thank me for giving you work,” he replied, chuckling at his own joke. Lucy laughed along to be nice, because she liked Mr. Clive, when there weren’t rumors going around of him perving on the female students.

Lucy began her work slowly, not bothering to rush like everyone else. She liked having to do her work at home because it meant that she had something to do. Something to take away her mind from the hunger; better yet, something to convince her she wasn't hungry at all.

The blonde had been fine until she reached the eleventh question. Of all her classes, biology was the hardest. Something about memorizing definitions of different functions never clicked in her head.

She reached into her backpack to get her textbook, ready to find the answer, but soon realized it wasn't in there. _Shit!_ she thought. _I must’ve left it on my bed! This is Dad’s fault for rushing me out._

“Do you need help?”

Lucy’s eyes shot up. They landed on dark green eyes and then on bright pink hair. Natsu. How embarrassing was it to have the guy next to you realize how bad you are at Bio?

“Oh. No, I’m good. Just forgot the word for this stupid definition.”

“What question?” he asked curiously. Lucy bit the inside of her cheek. “I finished already, so I can just give you the answers.” The blonde gaped at him.

“Already? We still have, like, half an hour left.” The boy chuckled.

“I’m just really good at biology. Anyways, what question is it?”

“... Eleven.”

Natsu leaned over and peered at the question. He took a moment to read it before saying “osmosis.”

“That’s it!” Lucy said, writing it down quickly. “Thanks. I really didn’t want to reread the textbook chapter again.”

“Again?” Natsu asked. “You actually read those?”

“Uh, yeah?” Lucy replied. “How else are you going to learn the information?”

“Google,” Natsu answered, scratching his neck. “Or I just already know it. Like I said, I’m kind of a god at Biology.” Lucy rolled her eyes, but smiled anyways. He was definitely wasn't shy.

“That’s lazy people work,” she said. “Unlike you, I put effort in.” Lucy ignored him when he said something else and continued to her worksheet. She shivered again, feeling the cold air from the vents tickle the back of her neck and arms. _Ignore it._

Once the bell rang, the students eagerly packed their stuff. Lucy ended up finishing her worksheet on time anyways, so she turned it into the teacher on the way out. As she walked under the door-frame, a warm hand placed itself on her shoulder. A shiver tickled at her spine even though heat encompassed her shoulder.

“Hey,” a deep voice said. Lucy turned her head to meet eyes with Natsu. “I forgot to ask, but your name is Luigi, right? I hear the teacher saying it during roll-call.”

“My name is Lucy!” she barked harshly. “What kind of a girl has a name like Luigi?”

“I don’t know! I was confused, too!” he shot back defensively. Lucy rolled her eyes and turned on her heels.

Teenage boys were _so_ dumb.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Filler chapter to get things rolling. :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a filler, but also not? It gives some more insight to what Lucy thinks about herself; plus, I don't want to rush too into the story so fast! I hope you like it! :)

Lucy layed on her bed. She was on her stomach with her feet in the air and her small, white dog, Plue, laying next to her. One hand was texting Levy while the other was alternating between petting her dog and eating chips. 

_Levy: we should hang out today ;)_

_Lucy: lmao like how_

_Levy: we can go to the mall ;;;))))_

_Lucy: or we can do something that doesn’t require me to leave the house ;;;)))_

_Levy: lazy ass_

Lucy snorted and popped another chip in her mouth, despite not being hungry in the least.

_Levy: cana said we could do something at her house_

_Lucy: ‘something’ to her is just drinking,,,_

_Levy: ok smartass u come up with something_

Lucy rolled her eyes as Plue licked the dust from the chips off her fingers. She didn’t mind, seeing as she had finished the bag anyways. She tossed it into the trash can, but it missed and landed on the floor.

_Lucy: ugh,,, I guess we can go shopping, whatever_

_Levy: yessss!! It would suck to spend a saturday locked up in ur room!_

_Lucy: yeah ok whatever but this better not be an excuse to flirt with Gajeel cause I know he works at that one emo store_

_Levy: that’s not the reason!_

_Levy: that’s not the ENTIRE reason!*_

__

Lucy’s hand rummaged through the racks of clothing, trying to find something in her size. She wanted to find a nice pair of jeans, but she couldn’t find a size 7 no matter how hard she looked, which really sucked. Levy was having a similar problem, seeing as stores barely had anything _small enough_ for her.

“Man,” Levy whined, “being tiny sucks!”

Lucy wanted to smash a vase over her friend’s head because Levy didn’t realize how _lucky_ she was to be such a small size. Lucy would kill to be as thin as a stick, but no--here she was, thick legs, thick stomach, thick _everything._

“I think you look great, Levy,” Lucy said comfortingly. Levy beamed as she took a tank top out and examined it.

“Thanks! But you look way better,” she replied. “You have, like, the nicest rack ever.”

The blonde instinctively covered her chest with her arms, pouting at her friend.

“Trust me, everything is great until you get a backache every two seconds,” she answered, making her blue-haired friend giggle. “Besides, big boobs mean big legs and big stomach and big arms.” Levy frowned.

“You’re not big, Lucy.” _Liar._ “Besides, that doesn’t mean you’re ugly.”

Lucy was about to reply, but Levy grabbed a crop top and gasped. “This is so cute!”

“It is,” Lucy agreed, examining the article of clothing. It was blue and white with a gold heart on the front with long sleeves. “You’ll look cute in it.”

“I don’t mean for me, I mean for you!” Levy squealed. Lucy deadpanned as Levy pushed the shirt up to Lucy and shoved her into a changing room. “You _have_ to try it on.”

“But--”

“No ‘buts!’”

Lucy let out a groan and rolled her eyes. She knew how stubborn her friend could be. In fact, Levy was arguably more stubborn than Lucy herself, and Lucy was _very_ stubborn. 

She shucked her sweater off and tried to ignore her body that was staring back at her in the mirror. The corner of her eye caught a glimpse of pudgy stomach and bit her lip hard. The blonde threw the crop top on and examined herself in the mirror. She blinked with a flat expression. _”I look really fat.”_

“Are you done yet?” Levy whined outside as she thumped against the door. Lucy rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, but I look so bad.”

Lucy opened the door and Levy came in, shutting and locking the door behind her. The blue-haired girl saw Lucy and gasped out loud. Lucy fidgeted in her spot, playing with her thumbs. She felt so vulnerable. The only person she’d ever let see her showing this much off  
was Levy, and even that was hard for her.

“Lucy!” Levy said. “You look so good! Please get it!”

Lucy looked down. “God, no. I look awful! Besides, it’s against dress code.”

Levy blew raspberry and waved her hand. “Whatever! Since when does our school even care? Cana gets away with wearing a bra every day!” Lucy huffed.

“I don’t wanna waste my money on something I don’t even like. So no, I won’t get it, loser.”

 

“Hey!” Levy whined. “I’m not a loser! If you’re not gonna get it, then _you’re_ the loser. Trust me, guys would be all over you in that.”

Lucy let out a laugh. “That would be nice, but all the guys at our school are, like, super ugly.”

“Excuse me?! Gray, Gajeel, Jellal--”

“All the single ones!” Lucy interrupted as she removed the shirt. “Plus, you’re the only girl who thinks Gajeel is hot. I mean, he’s cute but he has so many piercings!”

Levy blushed. “Shut up! He’s hot!”

“One kiss and you’ll die from blood loss,” Lucy said, putting on her sweater. Levy smacked her friend in the shoulder, Lucy letting out a whine as Levy hit much harder than necessary. “Just ask him out, dweeb.”

The blonde really had no idea how the two weren’t a thing yet. The two were definitely into each other, but both of them were too chicken to tell the other how they felt. Lucy pushed down the seed of jealousy she felt at that. Levy even had two other guys dying to be with her: Jet and Droy. Lucy was sure it had something to do with her thing size, and she secretly shoved down the green-eyed monster that was roaring in her chest. _It’s okay,_ she reminded herself. _You’re at 119 pounds. You’ll lose more soon._

The two exited the store, both of them coming out empty-handed. Pouts were present on both girl’s lips as they looked around. 

“Ugh,” Levy complained exasperatedly. “We’ve been to every store already! I don’t wanna go home, though…”

“Why don’t we just chill and watch movies at my place?” Lucy suggested. Levy was about to answer, when Lucy felt a vibrating in her back pocket. She reached in and pulled out her phone, seeing a message from “Jude Heartfilia.” That’s how distant she felt from him: his name wasn’t even “Dad” or “Father” in her phone. Just his name. 

It was a stupid _”Where are you?”_ message that he sent. Lucy was partly confused as to why he noticed her absence. He should be at work right now, so what was he doing home?

Lucy instinctively walked forward as her fingers typed in a sassy remark about he should be at work. She paid little attention to her surroundings, especially the hand her blue-haired friend had put on her shoulder, trying to get her to stop. Lucy ignored this as her feet moved forward, until they suddenly stopped, bumping into something--or rather, _someone._

The blonde dropped her phone, letting out a small squeak as she watched it fall to the floor. Her cheeks puffed as she looked up to see who it was and it had been none other than Natsu Dragneel himself. 

_”Why do I keep running into this guy?”_ she thought bitterly as she reached down to pick up her cellphone. Natsu, at the same time, reached down to retrieve it, even though what came out of his mouth was, “Watch where you’re going!” Consequently, they bumped heads rather harshly and Lucy’s hands flew to her scalp as she felt an ache.

“Ow!” Lucy complained. “Quit bumping into me, idiot!”

“You’re the one on your phone!” Natsu retorted. Lucy angrily snatched her phone up from the ground and crossed her arms as a pout formed on her lips.

“I was texting Ju-my dad, you idiot! You weren’t paying attention either or else you wouldn’t have bumped into me!”

“Hey!” Levy said cheerily, clasping her hands together. “Why don’t we all calm down!”

“Not until Luigi apologizes,” Natsu said, but there wasn’t any anger on his face anymore. Rather, it was more of a humorous undertone, which really just pissed the blonde off even more.She stomped her foot, ignoring the glances she got. 

“I’m so _not_ apologizing! Especially not after you get my name wrong for a second time!”

“Lucy,” her friend whispered, “please just say sorry. People are looking at us.”

Lucy rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry _Natsu.”_ she said bitterly. Honestly, at any other time, Lucy wouldn’t have cared so much about something so trivial, However, since she was just talking to her dad, the entire world was irritating her. He always had that effect on her; always ruined things for her. Inside, she blamed him, even though he wasn’t even there to witness it.

“Aw,” Natsu said, not able to stop the smile on his lips. “That wasn’t sincere.”

Lucy’s jaw ticked and she brought her hand back, ready to slap the idiot in front of her, but Levy, like the superhero she was, grabbed Lucy’s arm and brought it back down to her side. She gave Lucy and a stern look--one the blonde knew very well--which Lucy knew meant Levy had enough.

“Don’t be mad, Lucy,” Natsu said, grinning ear to ear. Lucy’s eyebrow twitched. “It’s just so fun messin’ with ya! See you in Biology, Lucky!”

 _”You little--”_ she muttered at Natsu’s retreating form. Levy gave a snort and Lucy shot her a look. Levy just shrugged, a smirk still on her lips.

“That was totally flirting, you know.”

_”Oh my god.”_

“‘See you in Biology, Lucky?’ He was practically asking for your hand in marriage.” Lucy rubbed her face in with her palms as Levy giggled at the annoyed facial expression her friend was making. “Now that I think about it, you guys looks kinda cute together.”

“Not a billion years,” Lucy said, finally responding to her dad with a half-assed reply. She tucked her phone back in her pocket and looked Levy in the eyes. “That guy is so obnoxious. He’s the one kid that can’t read out of a textbook without reading ‘organism’ as ‘orgasm’ just cause he thinks he’s absolutely hilarious.”

“I know who he is. He’s super popular,” Levy responded. “Natsu Dragneel, right? He’s on the football team and I hear he’s super good.”

“Who cares? He’s annoying.”

“So you don’t think he’s cute?” Lucy’s face flamed.

“I didn’t say that, but that’s not even the point I’m trying to make!” It was true: Natsu was attractive. However, his personality didn’t align with her views of the ideal date candidate at all. She imagined someone charming, funny, and kind. Natsu was the opposite with is lame jokes and teasing. She had only spoken to the guy twice and he acted like they had known each other for life! 

“He’s easy to be comfortable around,” Levy suggested. Lucy shook her head.

“I know you think I need a boyfriend, but I don’t. Yeah, I want one, but I have bigger priorities! And guys are trash.”

“Ugh,” Levy responded. “Too true.”

The two girls linked arms and walked away. Lucy smiled, but on the inside, the thought inside her mind lingered of what she really wanted to say.

_And guys don’t like fat girls._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed my story. :) I always welcome constructive criticism! <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoops! I've been gone so long, haha. I had a relapse with my mental health, so I was kind of working on that. Anyways, here you go!

Lucy let out the most awful of retches from within her bathroom. She didn't care much about keeping quiet at the moment, seeing as her dad was on a business trip in who-knows-where. He didn't leave anything behind besides a note with one sentence that explained where he had gone to. Lucy crumbled the note up, threw it away, ate about two containers of vanilla ice cream, and chugged an entire diet pop. Honestly, it was so surprising how fast and bubbly everything could come up when you chugged a diet Coke right before.

Now the blonde knelt beside her toilet, wiping snot off her face as she tried to ignore the offending odor wafting from her vomit. She gave herself a moment to take a few deep breaths before she was hunched over the bowl, sticking her fingers so far that the knuckles reached the sensitive hanging thing in the back of her throat. Lucy barely had time to comprehend what was happening before she felt the contents of her meal sliding up her throat and into the toilet. She tasted the flavor of ice cream and pop as it all came rushing out like water that had just broken through a dam.

It felt good to empty herself of everything she had piled up inside her stomach. She had eaten and eaten until the food had taken up so much space that she had no room left to feel frustrated.

She kept going for about an hour, slowly chucking all of it up. Lucy knew it was all gone when she tasted the metallic taste of blood on her tongue. It happened sometimes--little bits of blood would come out, but not often enough that Lucy would worry about it.

When she was done, she leaned back on the door of her bathroom and wiped away all of her snot and tears. Saliva engulfed her hand as she clenched her fists, feeling the sticky sensation around her hand.

Then she blew her nose, cleaned her face, washed her hands, and continued on like nothing had happened.

 

"Lucy, you don't look so good. Have you been eating lately?" Levy asked the next day during lunch as she examined the bags under her friends eyes. Lucy felt exhausted, but she managed to hide it with a smile.

"Yeah, I'm fine." _I've been eating too much,_ she thought bitterly. Levy didn't look convinced, but it seemed she had decided to keep quiet. Lucy was thankful to have a friend like Levy: someone who knew when to mind her business.

The two sat in an awkward silence for a few moments before Levy took a bite of her sandwich. Lucy ate her own in small bites, making sure to hide her face with her hand when she chewed. Nothing was worse than looking like a fatass in front of everyone in the cafeteria. She looked around as Levy talked about a book she was interested in. Because the blue-haired girl seemed to be having so much fun ranting about it, Lucy decided not to tell her that she had already read it. She opted for nodding occasionally as she tuned her friend out, more focused on her food.

_Take a bite, Levy._ She hated finishing before her friend, so she made it a rule to only take bites whenever Levy did. She never seemed to notice and Lucy was glad, because she knew it was kind of weird. Seriously, who syncs up their bites to someone else's? Still, Lucy figured that since Levy was so skinny, she must be doing something right. Much to her dismay, her friend seemed to have forgotten about the food entirely, making Lucy's chest twinge with jealousy. Food occupied her thoughts 24/7. Even when she wasn't thinking about food, she was. Always in the back of her mind, planning what she'd eat and how many calories she'd ingest. Today was only 500, but she knew that late at night, when the world was as quiet as a feather hitting the floor, she'd stuff her face like the pig she was. As long as she got rid of it, she figured it couldn't be so bad.

When Lucy decided to finally tune back into her surroundings, Levy was _still_ going on about the stupid book. Seriously, how could one girl have so much to say? When Lucy had read it, she thought that it wasn't really that great. Out of boredom, she fell into her desires and took a fat bite of her food, filling her cheeks like a chipmunk. 

She turned her attention to the group of people sitting at the other end of the lunchroom. It was Natsu and his "gang" or whatever. She knew most of them by name--but then again, everyone knew most of them by name. They were the "popular" people, meaning that basically everyone wanted to get in their pants. Fair enough. What Lucy admired most were their bodies. She gazed at Erza Scarlet, with her small stomach and thin waist. The red-head was the only female on the football team, so she was nicely toned as well. Supposedly, she was a force to be reckoned with and everyone was scared of her, but Lucy didn't know her personally, so she opted to try and not feed into rumors. Although, she could swear she's heard yelling coming from Erza's classrooms sometimes.

There were also the Strauss sisters: Mirajane and Lisanna. Lisanna was a freshman, a grade below Lucy, and Mirajane was a junior. The two were probably the prettiest girls Lucy had ever laid eyes on. They had the same deep blue eyes and silky white hair. Not to mention, they were both cheerleaders, so obviously they had the bodies of goddesses. Mirajane was a model, and Lucy was victim to the temptation of grabbing a magazine she knew the girl would be in and crying as she looked at her own flabby stomach. The blonde suddenly wasn't feeling very hungry anymore.

There were also the boys, but Lucy tried not to let them occupy her mind as much. She knew Natsu from Biology--duh--and she knew Gray from her English class. The rest of them she didn't know and, being honest, she kind of forgot who was who. All of them were pretty attractive, but Lucy was completely aware that she had just about a 0% chance with any of them. Secretly, she wanted a boyfriend, but she knew she'd have to drop just about 20 pounds before anyone would get with her. Still, it would be nice to have something like in the books, but there wasn't room for romance when your fat occupies all the space.

"Lucy! Lucy!" Said girl blinked as her short friend snapped her fingers in front of Lucy's face. "Did you hear anything I just said? Were you really tuning me out?"

Lucy swallowed. "What? Of course not, Levy! Personally, my favorite character was Lucille."

"Why?"

"'Cause our names sound alike." Levy rolled her eyes.

"You're so annoying sometimes. What was so cool that you felt the need to tune out my amazing story analysis?"

"Nothing, nothing. You just got super into detail and lunch is over in ten minutes." Lucy bit her lip. "I have to go to the bathroom real quick."

"Don't get lost," Levy replied as the blonde got up. There was a group of girls in there and Lucy cursed under her breath before retreating into a stall. She waited a few more minutes, but the girls weren't leaving, so Lucy decided to dip, seeing as she had limited time. The blonde walked around to the back of the school by the male changing rooms located outside by the football field. The girls' ones were farther away and didn't offer much protection from being seen. The girl surveyed the area around her and saw nobody, so she took that as her queue to bend over the grass and stick her fingers to the back of her throat. The girl wiggled them around until she felt that familiar sensation and let out a heave as she felt her lunch come up. It took a few minutes to get it all out and it really hurt considering she hadn't had much to drink, but she didn't care. She gave a final spit onto the dirt before she wiped her hands on her pants and used hand sanitizer before she turned back around. She heard the bell ring and smiled. Just in time.

Levy had texted her, wishing Lucy that her shit had gone well and Lucy replied with a snarky comment about how she wished that her friend and Gajeel's relationship was going well. Levy replied with a rather crude emoji that solely focused on the middle finger. Lucy let out a laugh as she turned into her AP English 2 class. It was one of her favorites, so she took the liberty of sitting in the front row. However, the teacher was one of her less admired ones: Mr. Dreyar. He just about sucked all of the fun out of English and made then write stupid essays with stupid guidelines. Anything structured besides the way her recommended was basically trash in his eyes.

When the bell rang, Lucy felt it in her bones that she would dread the class to come.

"Alright, shitheads," Dreyar said. Lucy huffed a small bit at the crude language the teacher used towards his students. "For our next project, you're going to be working in partners. Don't get too excited, because I picked them for you." The class groaned.

"Aw, what?" one kid moaned. "Why?"

"Let's try 'because I said so,'" the teacher said with a glare. The kid shut his mouth real quick and slouched glumly in his seat. Dreyar held a piece of paper that he read off of. Lucy's ears perked up when she heard her name. "Gray and Lucy."

She internally banged her head against the wall. She seriously had one of the cool kids? Not to mention, the cold, mysterious one with the personality straight out of a book. She tried not to look back at him in fear that the annoyed expression on her face would show and she'd hurt his feelings.

Dreyar continued on. "The assignment is pretty basic. We're going to be reading this trash book that the district is making us teachers assign. At the end of every chapter, you'll need to answer a few questions."

Lucy let out a breath. That was easy enough!

"Each chapter has around 25 complicated questions."

_You're fucking kidding me._

"You guys can go about answering them together however you want: exchange numbers, meet after school, whatever. The questions are really advanced, but you're also in the advanced class, so I don't know what you expected. You get partners because one: you can exchange ideas and get a different outlook on the message of the book--as least that's what the guidelines given to me say--and two: it's less to grade. Awesome. The books are already on your desks. The rest of class you'll be working on chapter one, but the rest will be done outside of class unless I'm feeling lazy one day. Cool, now go."

Lucy watched as everyone got up and shuffled to meet with their partners. Just as she was about to get up and meet with her partner, she saw a backpack land on the floor and a person slipping into the seat next to hers. Gray. He ran a hand through his hair and blew air out of his nose.

"Guess you and I are partners? This assignment totally blows, but I'm glad I get the smart girl as my partner." Lucy's cheeks puffed and she clenched her fists.

"If you think I'm doing all the work, you're completely wrong!" Gray held his hands up defensively.

"Chill out! I'm going to do my fair share, I promise." Lucy's fists loosened and she sniffed.

"You better. Anyways, I guess we should begin by both reading chapter one. I think it'll be faster if you and I read separately and not do the whole 'one of us reads a paragraph and switches every time.' I hate that stuff." When she looked back up, Gray had a smile on his face. She blushed and narrowed her eyes. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing. You're in AP Bio with Natsu, right? You're totally not what he described you as." Lucy dropped her book, making a loud noise as it hit the table. When everyone turned to her, her face lit up like the Fourth of July. After a moment, everyone turned back to what they were doing.

Lucy tried her best not to yell. "What did he say about me? I swear, I'm gonna kick him in the jaw." Gray laughed.

"He said you're weird, but I don't see it. I think you're just a little uptight." Lucy's jaw dropped.

"Who are you to make a deduction of my character based on minimal amounts of conversation? God, you people are so rude. And I'm not uptight! I just care about my grades!"

Gray rolled his eyes playfully. "Sorry, I take it back. Don't worry, I'm just messing with you. How about we start reading?"

Lucy huffed and forced her eyes onto the pages. She hated what Gray had said, but he wasn't too bad. It was obvious he was joking, but his words still offended Lucy greatly. Who was he to tell her what kind of person she was!? And why the hell was Natsu talking behind her back? Calling her weird, even! Next time that guy needs a pencil, he's totally on his own! 

When the two finished reading, they began working on the questions, but Lucy's mind was in the gutter for the next twenty minutes.

**Author's Note:**

> I do NOT support bulimia or the romanticizing of it in any way. This was written to help me cope.


End file.
